On March 4th Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division Director Dr. Allen Bateman joined Kate Archer Kent on Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Morning Show to discuss identifying COVID-19 variants using DNA (aka genomic) sequencing.

The WSLH is one of 4 labs in Wisconsin performing genomic sequencing of COVID-19 virus samples to identify and track the spread of variants in the state.

03/04/2021 The Morning Show interview

02/15/2021 Wisconsin Public Radio story about COVID19 genomic sequencing

On March 15, 2021, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene (WSLH) Communicable Disease Division will begin testing for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT), Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC), and Trichomonas vaginalis (TV) using our new Hologic Panther System. This change in testing requires different collection kits from previous test methods and previous collection kits will no longer be accepted.

Please refer to the pictorial collection kit guide to determine which kits are most appropriate for your patients.

The BD collection kits we previously accepted may be discarded after the change has occurred. They will no longer be accepted for testing after March 31, 2021.

Existing submitters will be sent new Aptima collection kits in preparation for the change. If you do not receive these kits and would like them, please contact our Clinical Orders Department at 800-862-1088 and request collection kits to meet your testing needs for up to 2 weeks at a time.

This change in testing will allow us to continue to provide highly accurate testing with potentially shorter time to results – and all at the same cost.

Complete new test announcement and pictorial collection kit guide

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Senior Scientist Martin Shafer published an article about Wisconsin’s COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program in Central States Water, the official magazine of the Central States Water Environment Association.

The wastewater surveillance program is a joint collaboration between the WSLH, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. By routinely monitoring the amount of genetic material of SARS-CoV-2 present in wastewater, WSLH and UW-M scientists can determine whether, and to what extent, the SARS-CoV-2 virus (the virus causing COVID-19) is circulating within communities in Wisconsin.

Track the results of wastewater surveillance testing and learn more at https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/covid-19/wastewater.htm

 

On January 21st, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources announced the presence of elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in surface water samples taken from Madison-area lakes and along the Yahara River.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Organic Chemistry Section analyzed the samples for 36 PFAS compounds, including PFOS and PFOA.

The Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene is one of four laboratories performing genetic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 virus in Wisconsin patient specimens.

In this story from USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin, WSLH Communicable Disease Division Director Al Bateman explains why genetic sequencing surveillance is such a powerful tool for learning where the virus is circulating and how it is changing.

Dr. Allen (Al) Bateman has been named the new Director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene Communicable Disease Division. The position was previously held by Dr. Peter Shult for 24 years before he retired in December 2020. Dr. Bateman served as a Co-Assistant Director under Dr. Shult since 2017.

Dr. Bateman earned his PhD and Master’s degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in cellular and molecular biology and virology, and public health epidemiology and global health, respectively. After completing his degrees Dr. Bateman gained experience in programmatic public health as an epidemiologist at both Wisconsin and North Carolina Departments of Health. He then was awarded a three-year NIH Fogarty Global Health fellowship for which he moved to Zambia and worked with the Zambian national diagnostic reference laboratory.

Dr. Bateman is a Diplomate of the American Board of Medical Microbiology, has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles, serves as a peer-reviewer for a number of journals and serves on committees for the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) and many other international societies.

WSLH Newborn Screening Laboratory Co-Director and UW Professor of Pediatrics Mei Baker, MD, received the 2020 Paster Family Foundation Innovation Award from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health in recognition of her newborn screening research and implementation.

The award is given for a project, system improvement, or initiative that has made a difference in human health and/or the lives of patients and their families.

SMPH Dean Robert Golden wrote in Baker’s award letter, “Your work is a true expression of the Wisconsin Idea. To combine diagnostic science and technology with medical intervention to improve public health — this is what our school’s vision of healthy people and healthy communities is all about. You have helped this screening impact babies in all 50 states and brought hope to so many parents.”

Baker credits the Newborn Screening Lab team and her WSLH and SMPH colleagues.

“It is such an honor to be the 2020 recipient of the Paster Family Foundation Innovation Award. I truly appreciate the unwavering encouragement and support from the leadership at WSLH and the Department of Pediatrics,” she said. “My sincere gratitude to our newborn screening team in working with me over the past decade, and together we will achieve more in the future.”

Please note the following changes to the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene’s operations due to the observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

The table below lists the hours of operations for our Clinical Specimen Receiving departments.

As always, if you have an off-hours emergency, please call the WSLH Emergency Pager at 608-263-3280.

 

On December 9th the Wisconsin Department of Health Services launched a COVID-19 wastewater surveillance dashboard. Dashboard data is provided by scientists with the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene COVID-19 wastewater surveillance program and researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

According to the DHS news release, “The new dashboard contains sewershed locations and boundaries, the levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus in the wastewater, and the daily new COVID-19 case rates within the chosen sewershed. A sewershed is an area of land where raw sewage from homes, businesses, and industries flows through a series of sewer pipes to a single downstream point, where it enters a wastewater treatment plant. Approximately 70 sewersheds are currently enrolled in this program, which covers over 50% of the state’s residents.”

Learn more from this NBC 15 story – https://www.nbc15.com/2020/12/11/wastewater-surveillance-leads-to-early-detection-of-coronavirus/

On December 8th the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Wisconsin Department of Health Services released the 2020-2021 fish consumption advisory booklet Choose Wisely: A Health Guide for Eating Fish in Wisconsin.

According to the DNR news release, “The updated booklet outlines safe-eating guidelines for fish based on levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), mercury and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) found in various Wisconsin water bodies. While fish are a primary source of important nutrients like omega-3s, they can also accumulate pollutants from their environment and food, causing health risks for humans.”

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene scientists performed contaminants analyses on hundreds of fish in order to generate the data used to develop the advisory levels.